 |
| Jo-Ann Lewis Frazier |
Jo-Ann Lewis Frazier is the oldest grandchild of my maternal grandparents Jasper and Josephine Richardson Harrell. Matter- of- fact she grew up with her youngest Auntie Delores in Amite, Louisiana. I guess she didn't call her auntie being that they were so close in age. In one of my blog post, I wrote about the photograph collection that our mutual maternal first cousin Monteral inherited from her deceased father. Jo-Ann mother Catherine and my mother Isabel are sisters. Monteral's father Raymond is their youngest brothers.
I'm excited that three first cousins are sharing our family history together. Jo-Ann is sharing through oral history and Monteral through photographs. In addition to being the family griot, she creates and designs funeral programs that are sometimes called brochure or booklets that have somewhat summarize the deceased person life. The higher percent of the programs designed are of African-American people and family members in Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes, Louisiana. She has an invaluable knowledge base of who is related and how. Not only for our family but for others in the community as well.
A couple of months back I interviewed Jo-Ann for our family documentary that premiered at 2017 family reunion. That's when I realized that Jo-Ann has a wealth of oral history information about her maternal side of the family. The oral history she shared was on the Harrell, Richardson, Vining, and Temple Families from the Louisiana Florida Parishes.
She often reminds me of her age, but I forget that so often because mother nature has graciously blessed her with the fountain of beauty and youth. I soon found out that she is blessed with the fountain of memories that connected us to our ancestors and history.
 |
| Monteral Harrell Photo Courtesy: Antoinette Harrell |
Our grandparents gave birth to ten beautiful children. There are three remaining living children; my mother, her brother Henry, and youngest sibling Delores are living. Jo-Ann grew-up in the house with some of her aunts and uncles. She was a welcome addition to the family and the beginning of a new generation. When I thought about it ―I'm the oldest of my siblings and Monteral is the oldest of her sibling. All three of us are the oldest of all our siblings and all are females. "What a connection!"
Monteral is working on her maternal side of her family. Collecting photos and researching her maternal lineage. What a great gift to give to her family? The family lineage and knowledge of self. I know everyone is going to appreciate her efforts and some may even join her.
Monteral shared her rich photograph collected she inherited from her father after he passed away. She remembered the boxes of pictures because of her father. She recalled how her father took the collection out to look at the photos and engage her in the family images history lessons whether she wanted to are not, she had to take his history class. That's one history class I know she is happy she took. I knew that her father inherited them from a cousin we called "Cousin Gert" after she passed away. Cousin Gert was raised by Aunt Ella, If; I'm not mistaken, Cousin Gert may have been legally adopted by Aunt Ella. Nevertheless, I need to find out!
The photograph went to the right person when Uncle Raymond inherited them. I say that because of his love for family. He was the kind of person who would visit relatives. It's through him that I learned about the Harrell family who migrated up North. He took me to visit my great Uncle Warner Harrell's family in Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Uncle Raymond liked taking pictures and collecting them too. Jo-Ann and I were discussing the blog I posted about the pictures. She informed me that Aunt Ella was a picture collector. Whenever anyone in the family or friends took pictures they had to make sure they sent Aunt Ella a photograph.
 |
| Ella Harrell Harrison |
Aunt Ella had pictures that dated back to the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Matter-of-fact she had several tintype photographs. I just wish we knew the people in the photographs. I think Monteral and I should just sit down with Jo-Ann to see if she recognize any of the people in the photographs. I did recognize my great aunts and uncles and some cousins in the images.
Writing letters was sometimes the only method families had of staying in touch with each other after some family members moved away from home. Some of the pictures were postcards. On the front, you can see the handwriting addressing the postcard to Aunt Ella and the return address information. Aunt Ella received a lot of photographs addressed to her. In the same collection, I found a photo that was addressed to Mr. Buster Harrell, that was most people called my grandfather Jasper. Just sitting here writing this blog makes me really appreciate having family photographs that have been in the family for at least five generations. In memory of our late Aunt Ella, we appreciate her contribution to our family. In her collection, we found a photograph of all her brothers, sister, and mother in front of the old Emma Mead Harrell homestead. They were all dress up with fancy suits and dress on. I was wondering if they could have attended a funeral of a family members. Could it have been grandpa Robert or grandpa Alexander funeral?
I grateful for my cousins who are sharing the family images and oral history. If there are any other family members who want to share photographs with Nurturing Our Roots Blog, please contact me by email at nurturingourroots@gmail.com.
